


Ritual of Rejuvenation

by Mertiya



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And a bit of implied backstory noncon/abuse, Graduate School, Internalized Transphobia, M/M, More specifically that trope where you end up hooking up at someone else's, Of course even my smut has feels, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Trans Jace, Trans Male Character, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 08:54:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12207948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya
Summary: Jace meets Ral at Jace's sister-in-law's wedding.





	Ritual of Rejuvenation

 

            It was over a hundred degrees outside. Jace mopped his forehead with the handkerchief he’d gotten as a present at the bridal luncheon, which had not been the most awkward part of this whole weekend, but it had been close. Thank every god that he no longer needed to wear a binder, because he probably would have dropped dead by now if he had. He really was not sure why Fonn had found it necessary to include him in the ceremony, but at least he’d gotten through it without completely embarrassing himself. His voice hadn’t cracked, and he’d only stumbled over one word, and he hadn’t mumbled. But thank god it was over.

            Maybe now it was time to make himself scarce, though. On the one hand, it would definitely be a little bit rude to leave before the wedding dinner. On the other hand, Jace was getting really tired of dealing with the—thankfully small—part of his extended family who insisted on getting his gender wrong. Kallist’s extended family, really. Emmara and Kallist would understand if he took off early, and he doubted Fonn would hold it against him, if she even noticed.

            Chewing his lip, Jace sighed and was edging towards the door when he came face to face with Kallist. His twin brother had a very self-satisfied smile on his face, and Jace was suddenly very concerned. That particular look could mean several different things, and while some of Kallist’s ideas were excellent, Jace had definitely experienced horrible backfires from them on several occasions. “Um, I was just about to—” Jace waved an uncomfortable hand at the door.

            “Let me introduce you to someone?” Kallist asked. “He was Jarad’s college roommate, and he just got his Ph.D. in electrical engineering.”

            Groaning, Jace ran both his hands through his hair. “Fine,” he said eventually. It would just be a few minutes, and Kallist was probably thinking he could use the networking. He probably _could_ use the networking.

            “Excellent,” Kallist said with a grin. “This way.” Mentally shoring himself up, Jace followed Kallist to a small knot of people talking to one another.   “Hey,” Kallist said. “Dr. Zarek? I wanted to introduce you to my brother.”

            Dr. Zarek, who had been arguing very loudly with Jarad, turned around at Kallist’s words. “You know I have an early flight tomorrow—” he started, sounding irritated, and then his eyes fell on Jace. “Oh, hey,” he said, and—oh _god_. Fuck. This wasn’t about networking at all. Zarek was tallish, at least compared to Jace, maybe 5’10’’, dark-haired, high-cheekboned, and pale, with flashing dark eyes. Exactly Jace’s type. Which Kallist knew all too well. Jace shot his twin a glare that could have melted lead and received an innocent smile in return.

            “Hi,” Jace said, trying to make his voice come out level and thanking his guardian angel that his voice didn’t squeak. “I’m Jace Beleren. Don’t ask about the name thing, please, _everyone_ asks about the name thing.”

            “No asking about the name thing, got it,” Dr. Zarek replied easily, his eyes flickering briefly down Jace’s form and up again to his face. Jace flushed, slow and hot.

            “Jace is working on his Ph.D. in computer science,” Kallist put in. “He’s ABD at this point. And I think you guys might have a few _other_ things in common.” And that was definitely Kallist-speak for _Zarek is into men_. Jace bit his lip, because _shit_. He wasn’t actually going to get set up by his brother at their sister-in-law’s wedding, was he? Would he mind?

            “Ral, by the way,” said Zarek.

            “Huh?” Jace said intelligently.

            “My first name. People who call me Zarek are boring, generally.”

            “O-oh. _Right_. Right!” _I definitely wasn’t staring at your cheekbones._ “Ral. Um. Nice to meet you.” _Is there a subtle way to inject ‘by the way I want to make out with your face suddenly’ into conversation?_

            “I thought you’d get on well,” Kallist said with amusement. “I’ll just let you two get to know each other.” And that was pretty mortifying, because that was Kallist’s smug voice. Jace was going to be enduring merciless teasing about this later, but if it gave him the option to spend a little bit of time with Ral “unfairly gorgeous and also already had his stupid Ph.D.” Zarek maybe Jace didn’t entirely mind.

            As Kallist walked away, Jace turned back to Dr. Cheekbones, trying to think of what to say. There was probably an intelligent remark he could make. Something subtly flirtatious maybe. Jace’s mouth opened. “So, I definitely would love to chat about research and, um, grad school, and life after grad school, and, um, all that jazz, but honestly I’ve had a really long day and I—” _want to maybe put my tongue down your throat, no can’t say that,_ “—uh, uh,” he searched desperately for something better to say and ended on, “uh, I’m _really_ bi, uh. Are…you…?”

            “Exceedingly gay?” Ral responded in a low voice. “Oh, definitely. And I’ve had a really long day, too, so if you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting—”

            Worrying at his lip, Jace managed to reached out and put his hand on Ral’s arm. “I don’t actually, um, know _exactly_ what I’m suggesting,” he hedged slightly.

            Ral grinned. “The reception’s going fine. Want to come back to my hotel room and fool around?”

            Jace’s arousal vanished under a sudden cold chill, as the words _exceedingly gay_ echoed uncomfortably in his head. “Oh,” he said. “Um.”

            His companion shrugged, although his face had gone suddenly guarded. “Just a suggestion,” he said lightly.

            “It’s just—” Rubbing a hand across his face, Jace sighed. Why had he gotten himself into this? He needed to think up an excuse and leave; he should have known that this would happen. “I’m trans,” he said unhappily, hunching his shoulders in. They were just a few feet away from the rest of the reception, so Ral would probably just leave. And besides, when you were AFAB, Jace thought bitterly, it wasn’t like anyone was going to hurt you for tricking them. He really should just stop complaining. It had been a nice distraction while it lasted.

            “Oh-kay?” Ral said, one eyebrow going up. “So are you not okay with sex, then? Like, are we talking dysphoria, or…”

            Jace blinked at him, then swallowed. “I…” he said. “I mean, I haven’t really…since I had top surgery, but…no, I just thought that _you_ wouldn’t...you’re gay, right?”

            “And you are a man,” Ral told him slowly. “A _hot_ one. What’s the problem?” A pleased frisson shivered its way up Jace’s back; Ral actually leaned forward and brushed his lips over Jace’s ear, and Jace very nearly melted into a small, gooey puddle.

            “Um,” he said, his train of thought sliding gently sideways towards the edge of the rails as a flicker of heat started to build in the pit of his stomach again. “I didn’t think…uh…I don’t like being penetrated?”

            Ral looked up from the junction of Jace’s shoulder, a dark flush gathering on his high cheekbones, and grinned lazily. “That’s convenient,” he said huskily. “Because _I_ am a huge fan of taking it up the ass. Fingers are fine, if you don’t have—”

            “I—I do,” Jace said hurriedly. “I, uh, I sort of brought it as a safety blanket? I guess that sounds weird.”

            “I’ve heard weirder.” Ral dismissed this with a wave of his hand, and good god, Jace wanted to kiss him more than he had before, if that was possible. “We’ll have to pick up some lube as well, but I’m pretty sure there’s a drugstore a block away from the hotel, so we should be good. If you’re up for it?”

            “ _God_ ,” Jace said fervently. “ _Yes_.”

~

            They half-fell into the hotel room; Ral shoved Jace sideways as the door shut behind them, and Jace tried to step with him, but tripped over his own feet. He hit the wall behind him hard, and Ral paused for a moment, checking him over, but Jace was already reaching for him. Ral grinned again and hitched his hips briefly against Jace’s before catching Jace’s wrists and pinning him against the wall. Jace moaned, stars flashing in front of his eyes at the contact, and he leaned forward to capture Ral’s mouth with his own, nipping at Ral’s bottom lip.

            “Fuck,” Ral mumbled. He brought his free hand up to cup Jace’s cheek, his fingers combing through the back of Jace’s hair, and Jace sighed into the kiss, shivering with pleasure at the light touch. “Hnnn,” he panted. Ral’s thumb rubbed circles on the inside of his wrist.

            “I can’t get your shirt off without the use of my hands,” Jace objected.

            “But I’m having so much fun,” Ral drawled.

            “Too many _clothes_ ,” Jace whined, and the other man quirked an eyebrow at him. Hot breath on Jace’s ear, and Jace froze in place, his brain suddenly failing to process anything but that sensation. “God,” he panted. “Yeah. That— _please_.”

            Fingers ghosted underneath Jace’s waistband, and he made another high noise.

            “I let go of your wrists, you know,” Ral murmured in his ear. “For an ABD, you’re not very observant.”

            “Who said I need to _observe_ things to get a PhD?” Jace grumbled. “Did _you_ observe things to g—”

            “I’ve done field work, yeah.”

            “W-Well. I’m not really an exper-i-mentalist,” Jace drew out the last word as Ral’s hands pushed his jacket off and started working on his tie; Jace found himself rocking his hips against Ral’s thigh. “Nnnn.” He reached for Ral’s jacket, and that was easy enough to remove. Underneath, Ral’s shirt was sweat-soaked, and his tie—dark blue with red lightning bolts on it—was askew.

            “That is a _hell_ of a tie,” Jace said. “How did I not notice it till now?”

            “Preoccupied?” Ral smirked, moving his knee very slightly. Jace keened.

            “You—asshole—” he panted.

            “So I’ve been informed.” God. Jace kissed him again, fumbling at the buttons of his shirt and finally managing to undo the top. A sudden breeze on his chest told him that his own shirt was open, and Jace froze momentarily, because it was one thing for Ral to _say_ —but he still had the scars—it was quite another thing for him to—

            Ral was staring at him; Jace suppressed the immediate instinct to cross his arms across his chest. “What?” he said, but it came out small and low and frightened.

            “Hm?” said Ral. “Oh. Sorry, I just, uh, you have a great chest?”

            “I…I do?”

            Three fingers stroked gently down Jace’s chest, between the two thin scars above his rib-cage. “Mmm. Yup.”

            A moan pulled its way out of Jace’s throat, and he shuddered at the touch. “Okay, definitely time for all the clothes to be gone.” But his hand still hesitated on his belt. “If—if you’re sure that—I mean the hips and—”

            “You think I’ve never seen a man with round hips before?”

            “And. Um.”

            “Get your damn pants off already and put your dick on then.”

            Jace went red. “Fuck you,” he muttered, but he felt much better about undoing his belt and sliding his trousers off, though he kept his shirt half-buttoned until he’d rooted around in his suitcase and found the strap-on. Apparently, it was useful as more than just a safety blanket.

            By the time he’d seated it comfortably and tightened it, Ral had stripped and was lying naked on the bed with a wide grin. “I see you managed to get it up all right.”

            And, oh— _god_ —Jace was actually tearing up a little bit, because Ral was hard; he was hard because of _Jace_ , and Jace had to turn his face away for a minute and sniff a couple of times; he hadn’t realized how much that visual affirmation would mean to him.

            “You okay?” For the first time, Ral sounded slightly hesitant.

            “Fine. Better than fine. I’m great.” Jace knelt on the bed between Ral’s thighs and began to kiss up his inner thigh, and Ral gasped, hips shifting slightly. Jace hovered around his upper thighs for a long moment; they were long and lean and muscular, and Ral made the most interesting little noises as he nipped very gently at the top while he massaged further down them with his hands.

            “Jace, you’re killing me here,” Ral groaned, and Jace took pity on him, licking a long stripe from the base to the tip of Ral’s dick. Ral made a strangled noise, and, yes, okay, Jace definitely did want to see the face he made when there were fingers and then something else pushed up inside him, but he also kind of had something of an oral fixation, and Ral’s dick was _right there_. Jace couldn’t help himself: he wrapped his lips around it and sucked. Ral’s hand dropped into his hair, and he made a strangled, desperate noise.

            “Fuck,” he sighed, after a moment, hips jerking slightly as Jace smiled and sank as far down as he could and then pulled back. “Jace—Christ—Jace—” Ral grabbed at his hair as he repeated the motion. “Holy fuck, man, you have got to stop or I’m going to come in the next two seconds.”

            Sitting back, Jace wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled. “So?” he said. “You don’t need to be hard for anything, and I can keep it up pretty much indefinitely.”

            “Mostly I’m objecting because I’d rather like to come with you inside me,” was the response, given with a lazy smile.

            “Oh, um.” Jace felt a wave of heat rush across his neck and cheeks. “Well. If you put it like that…”

            “Great.” Ral waggled his fingers at Jace. “So…”

            For a moment, Jace just stared. Then he lunged over to the side of the bed where they’d left the shopping bag with the lube. God, he looked so hopelessly desperate. Was that bad? Jace wasn’t even sure if it was bad.             He hadn’t had sex in several years, and he’d certainly never just fallen into bed with a complete stranger _at a wedding_. He was living the cliché.

            Scrabbling through the bag, he managed to find the little clear bottle, and then glanced back to see that Ral was waiting for him, one eyebrow quirked up a little. For the first time, he seemed a little hesitant as well, and Jace wasn’t sure why. He scooted back along the bed, undoing the cap on the lube and nearly spilling it across the bed in his haste. “This is—okay—right?”

            “Yeah.” Ral leaned up on his elbow and kissed Jace, hand tangling and tugging in Jace’s hair, and Jace made some kind of noise and leaned into the kiss. “Yeah, if I seem—uh. I’m not actually great with—” Ral waved a hand and nearly elbowed Jace in the face. “Sorry. Emotions. And things like that.”

            “You’re probably better than me,” Jace mumbled in a small voice.

            Ral snorted. “I’m not sure. Electrical engineering is pretty up there for emotional constipation.”

            Jace stared incredulously. “ _Computer science_ ,” he pointed out, and Ral laughed, probably harder than the statement warranted.

            And somehow they were falling over each other laughing, Jace flopped across Ral’s chest snickering. “Is this the nerd version of a dick-measuring contest?” Jace sniggered. “Because I’ve never done that before.”

            “What, the nerd version or the normal version?” Ral asked.

            “Yes.” Jace smiled broadly, and Ral actually twitched.

            “You’d better stick a finger up my ass so that I can ignore the fact that you just answered yes to a biconditional query,” he growled, and Jace had to laugh again.

            Sliding a hand around Ral’s back, he slid a single finger hesitantly up and in. “Is that okay? I haven’t done this much.”

            “You’re good,” Ral told him, eyes sliding shut. “Crook it a bit—yeah—either move or crook, pick one, _yeah_.” His cock twitched slightly, and Jace stared at it, wanting very much to suck on it, but _not yet_. Calm down. There was plenty of time. Slowly, he pumped his finger in and out of Ral’s heat, and the other man groaned.

            “Fuuuuck. Another one?”

            Jerkily, Jace nodded, then remembered Ral’s eyes were shut, shrugged, and carefully inserted another finger. Ral hissed through his teeth, cock twitching again, and his hips twitched upwards. Fascinated, Jace moved his hand a little faster, fucking Ral open with it, and Ral responded readily, gasping and pushing back against him. Heat blossomed between Jace’s legs, and he rocked his hips as well, getting enough of a brief, tantalizing sensation that he shivered with pleasure.

            “That’s—yeah—that’s good.” Ral groaned, laying a hand on Jace’s wrist. “Fuck. Jace. Let me ride you?”

            Jace’s eyes slid shut, and he made a manful effort to avoid collapsing into a boneless heap. A small sound did escape his lips of a sort that was probably best described as a _mewl_. “Yeah,” he agreed hoarsely. “Definitely. Please.”

            They shifted positions on the bed. Jace rarely liked lying on his back during sex, but he’d also rarely been in this particular situation before, and there was something—very different—about the thought of being on his back while _he_ was inside someone else.

            He swallowed hard as Ral grinned and lowered himself onto the strap-on—onto his _dick_ , he corrected himself. Christ, that was a trip, to see—to see _himself_ disappearing inside of Ral’s body. Jace felt heat flare in his cheeks, and he squirmed, bucking his hips upward, trying to get a little sensation. Ral moaned, tipping his head back and sinking down the rest of the way. “ _Fuck_ , Jace, yeah.” His shifting weight brushed at a nerve and sent heat singing up from between Jace’s legs, and Jace gasped out an obscenity himself.

            Their hips stuttered together and then they managed to start moving in a clumsy rhythm, the back of Ral’s thighs slapping against the top of Jace’s.

            “Oh, god,” Jace said. “Oh, fuck.” Then, jerkily, again, “Oh, _fuck_. Ral, I—”

            Ral grinned lazily and moved a little faster, and Jace whimpered, overwhelmed. His eyes wanted to shut, but he could _not_ give this up. He was—he was having sex with someone, he was _inside_ someone, and that someone wanted him there and didn’t want him opened up and pliant and _female_. Wanted him, not someone that she—that they thought he was. That they wanted to make him. He reached for Ral’s hips, tugging him downwards as he thrust up, and Ral moaned and muttered something incomprehensible.

            It was everything he’d wanted; it made up five times over for everything else horrible about today, and Jace made a mental note that he owed Kallist big time for introducing the two of them. He jerked upwards again, thrusting hard enough, just off-sync enough with Ral that he felt the pressure between his legs when Ral came down, and it sent stars bursting across his field of vision. Grunting at the sensation, Jace scrabbled for Ral’s dick, hand closing clumsily over it.

            Ral made a noise, but if it was a word, it wasn’t comprehensible, and then everything seemed to melt and break apart into little snatches of sensation. The feel of Ral’s erection, silky-smooth beneath Jace’s hand, and so hot; the little tantalizing spurts of sensation from between Jace’s legs; the sight of Ral, head thrown back, gasping and desperate. He ground down once more, and Jace felt the cock under his hand twitch and pulse, and Ral climaxed, knees tightening around Jace’s ribs as he did. Semen spattered across Jace’s chest as Ral gasped and twitched and finally slumped bonelessly downward, drawing his lips lightly across Jace’s cheek at ending at his mouth. Jace whined breathlessly.

            He was close, his legs still jerking and twitching a little without his consent, heat spiking between his legs and something catching at his chest, but it wasn’t quite enough. That was okay, though, it was pretty uncommon for him to—Ral rolled to the side and slid one hand up between his legs. Jace gasped and jerked at the sudden rush of sensation, and then gasped again as Ral slid his other hand around Jace’s dick, so that he could _see_ —

            “Oh, god,” Jace gulped. “Oh, Jesus.”

            “Tell me if this isn’t working for you,” Ral said, frowning and moving his hand. His touch was clumsy, but it didn’t matter; all that mattered was that the bare, tantalizing maddeningly inconsistent brush of sensation had turned into something forceful and constant. Heat coiled, twisting tight in Jace’s belly and between his legs, then flamed through his whole body. There was a high-pitched noise ringing in Jace’s ears, and his legs were clenched tight around Ral’s hand.

            “I—take it that it was working,” Ral said. Jace passed a hand across his hot face and nodded.

            “Wow,” he managed, eventually. “That was, um, a very nice, um orgasm.”

            “Oh, uh. Well, good.” Ral nodded. “I definitely knew exactly what I was doing, in that case.”

            Jace felt a shiver that was half aftershock pass through him, and he leaned sideways against Ral, trying to figure out how to say the next thing his brain had pointed out. It didn’t come out totally coherent. “I, um, I’ve never actually fallen into bed with someone at a wedding before. Or not at a wedding. Or at all. I don’t really know what the etiquette is?”

            Ral snorted out an amused laugh. “I guess I’ve had the occasional one night stand,” he hazarded, and Jace swallowed.

            “Um,” he said. “I guess I should have maybe brought this up beforehand? I don’t, um. It would be nice if this weren’t a one time thing? But I mean, I get it if—” He paused as a tired hand landed on his mouth, a little too hard. “Ow!”

            “Sorry,” Ral yawned vaguely. “Just. Yeah. Me too? Logistics could be crappy, but I like you. Even if you did answer yes to a biconditional query.” His hand moved away from Jace’s mouth, and his arm flopped over Jace’s shoulders, drawing Jace closer to him.

            “I—I like you, too,” Jace murmured. It was warm in Ral’s embrace like this. And if they were both figuring them out together, logistics didn’t seem so scary. He could—he could get used to this. He really could.


End file.
